Greenhouse

ABSTRACT

A greenhouse on a support structure on posts with a hanging foil roof that can be opened, wherein the foil covering that forms the roof remains completely below the support structure formed by lattice girders in every position by being suspended form the rails on the underside of, and longitudinally to, the lattice girders is movable between the open and the closed position.

[0001] The invention at hand pertains to a greenhouse with a suspended foil roof that can be opened. Characteristically, a greenhouse is an artificially heated glass house used to start and grow plants such as flowers, decorative plants and vegetables independently of climatic conditions. Greenhouses are typically equipped with ventilation and sometimes with additional lighting and sprinkler equipment.

[0002] It is more cost-effective to cover a greenhouse with plastic film instead of glass. The flexibility of the plastic film allows for folding open the roof to expose the plants to the natural solar radiation under suitable weather conditions. The established devices for the purpose of opening and closing are, however, laborious and expensive and the opening and closing is often time-consuming. In this way, a greenhouse with a hanging roof that can be opened—made from inflatable tubular film, which is suspended on parallel tightened wires—is described in the German Patent Specification 22 23 158. When the tubes are filled with air, they are contact with each other at the parallel tangential lines and, due to their lower position, form a penetration area for the rainwater. Furthermore, filling them with air limits the penetration of light and UV rays on the greenhouse plants and the air filling will cause the forming of a condensate.

[0003] Another suspended plastic film roof construction, according to the German Patent Specification 32 04 026, is hanging from and can be folded in a zigzag manner from a tight wire construction. Also with this construction, the plastic film covering has multiple layers with air cushions between them and another plastic foil, suspended below, is permeable to air for humidity that can be controlled in the “closed” position. When moving these multi-layered plastic films and during strong rain or even snow, this cover is mechanically unstable.

[0004] A simple suspension of a single-layer plastic foil between two posts as covering for a greenhouse that features a weighted hanging ridge which, however, has no opening mechanism is known from the French disclosure document No. 2 488 102. The position of the plastic foil in the direction of radiation can only be changed at the intermediate posts.

[0005] The French disclosure publication 2 137 124 describes a greenhouse with a hanging folding roof that can be opened; however it consists of several frames pin-jointed at the bottom, which, in closed state, are deposited onto sloping tight wire. Each individual pin-joint consists of two spaced joints with a gutter between them. The support wires run above across several rows of posts. The sides of the frames facing the joints, which stand vertically when opened, are reciprocally attached with side-to-side linkages that can be moved back and forth. The linkages are directed through necessarily upright positioned cable rolls to guide the folding movement of the frames between an upright standing, and positioned at about 45-degrees on the tight wire for control. The construction effort is high because the support construction is complex and is neither located underneath or above the roof but within the movement level of the roof. Shadowing of the plants is also high, both in the open as well as in the closed position.

[0006] In contrast, the invention before us a plastic film greenhouse is proposed with a roof that can be easily opened and closed or adjusted to several intermediate positions, as necessary. According to the invention, this initially happens in that the plastic foil surface constituting a roof staying in any position underneath a light but stable support structure from which it is suspended. Even in the completely closed position, the foil skin hangs through in downward position. A taut triangular cross-section is formed as a downwards directed, hanging shed roof that is attached to the support structure with two suspension lines. The downward pointing “ridge,” that is to say, the lowest hanging center line between two suspension lines has here a gradient in the longitudinal axis of the green house to let rainwater drain longitudinally and is weighted to keep the plastic film taut. Preferable for this is a pipe, supported on the longitudinal center axis and connected to the plastic foil with a clamp profile. A rod or something similar can be used as well. It is important to have a balanced weight of this center axis which, on one hand, makes for adequate tightening and, on the other hand, does not compromise the light weight of the roof construction.

[0007] The suspension lines are movable perpendicularly to the greenhouse axis along the support structure towards each other and away from each other into any final side position without pin-joints or other supports. In that way, the plastic foil roof either opens or closes more or less or closes completely; it is hanging more or less into the greenhouse or along a side wall, letting the full daylight or sunlight into the greenhouse. When the two suspension lines meet in the center of the support structure, the plastic foil surface is hanging close together and the roof is open. This “foil bag”, with its pipe located on the bottom, may be wound upwards around the pipe for a complete opening of the roof.

[0008] The important distinction from the established hanging plastic foil roofs is due to the fact that the roof covering not only hangs down tautly—both open or closed—but that it is also safe to be used in wind, rain or snow.

[0009] Additional details, characteristics, and advantages are provided in the claims and the following description of a design example, which is shown schematically and in perspective in the drawings.

[0010] Shown in:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective overview,

[0012]FIG. 2 is a schematic detail of how the plastic film roof and pipe can be connected,

[0013]FIG. 3 is an additional detail of the closed connection of plastic foil and the pipe.

[0014] The model design of the plastic foil greenhouse 10, shown here, consists of several sections A, B, C, and D located next to each other. Each field of this model design can also be regarded as a separate plastic foil greenhouse with its own side walls. Typically, posts 12 on foundations 14 are erected on a base 16, each bearing a light lattice girder 20 with upper bracing 22 as a support structure. Suspension lines are located on the rails 28—perpendicular to the lattice girders 20 and aligned along the axis of the greenhouse 10—for the length of plastic foil 30 suspended between them as a hanging roof covering. As an example, the plastic foil roof in section A is closed and the rails 28 are located at their maximum distance from one another within section A. In the closed position, the length of plastic foil track 30, with a pipe 32 positioned along the center line, sags slightly downward. The installed pipe 32 keeps the length of plastic film taut to avoid fluttering. To safely prevent an upwards suction of the closed roof during wind or storm, a safeguard (not shown)—for example in the form of a pull rope that can be anchored at the bottom—may be added. To connect the plastic film 30 and pipe 32, pipe 32 may feature a lengthwise running notch 34 according to FIGS. 2 and 3 into which a clamp profile 36 is fitted; the plastic foil 30 is secured into notch 36. Instead of pipe 32, a rod or something similar can be attached to the foil to keep it taut. In any case, this inner ridge line features a slope in the longitudinal direction of the greenhouse 10 towards the back. To catch the rainwater, a transversely running gutter may be mounted on the back wall.

[0015] Section B of the model shows the roof half opened. The rails 28 move towards each other along their entire length. In way of an example, Section C shows an initially open position in which the lengths of plastic film 30 are positioned almost back-to-back. As shown in section D, this plastic foil bag, shown in section C, may be wound upwards around pipe 32 into a roll 38, all the way up to the underside of the lattice girder 20. Pipe 32 can be somewhat axially extended for a winding mechanism. However, the movement on the rails 28 with suspension of the plastic foil is not restricted to the individual sections. Furthermore, all plastic foil bags 30 of all sections, either hanging or rolled up, may be pushed together.

[0016] Understandably, a greenhouse 10 can be constructed from many sections A, B . . . and the roof positions may all be the same or different. Further, this roof construction may be mechanized and automated. Here, only the principle of the variability of a hanging roof is described. Important however, is the combination with the separately established design of light metal lattice grids 20 and 22. 

1) Greenhouse on a support structure on posts with a hanging foil roof that can be opened, is characterized by the fact that the foil covering (30) that forms the roof remains completely below the support structure formed by lattice girders (20) in every position by being suspended from the rails (28) on the underside of, and longitudinally to, the lattice girders (20) is movable between the open and the closed position. 2) Greenhouse according to claim 1, is characterized by the fact that the triangular cross-section sag is formed by a downward directed, hanging slant roof with a weighted ridge (32), where the foil covering (30) is attached between two suspension lines (28) across the support structure (20) in a movable way. 3) Greenhouse according to claims 1 and 2 is characterized by the fact that the downward directed “ridge” (32), the center line (32) between two suspension lines (28) that is hanging down the most, features a slope along the longitudinal axis of the greenhouse (10). 4) Greenhouse according to claims 1 through 3 is characterized by the fact that the downward hanging center line (32) between two suspension lines (28) is weighted with a pipe along the longitudinal axis of the greenhouse (10). 5) Greenhouse according to claims 1 through 4 is characterized by the fact that the suspension lines (28) on support structure (20) are movable perpendicularly to the greenhouse axis towards each other and all the way into one or two sideways end positions. 6) Greenhouse according to claims 1 through 5, is characterized by the fact that the foil covering, which hangs down fully towards the inside, may be rolled up (38) around the pipe (32) all the way up to the support structure (38). 7) Greenhouse according to claims 1 through 6 is characterized by the fact that the pipe (32) features a longitudinal notch, into which a clamp profile (36) is fitted and where the plastic foil (30) is secured between notch (34) and clamp profile (36). 8) Greenhouse according to claims 1 through 7, is characterized by the fact that the width of the greenhouse (10) is partitioned into sections (A, B, C, D,), which are allocated one length of plastic foil each. 